Updates and info...

I think we've long since established that this has become an unreliable blog, and I-- I have become an unreliable blogger. If you want to stay up to date, you're just going to have to join me on instagram (@christinasalway). Or better yet, once my friend (who is younger and more media savvy than me) has explained the point of snapchat to me, you'll be able to join me there too.

In exchange, I will try a little harder to keep you in the loop here on the blog. Deal? Deal.

So... with that in mind, let's jump straight into our biggest, latest news. We bought a bar. In Brooklyn. What the f#ck, you just said. You heard me correctly. Actually, to be a little more specific, we bought a charmless fast food Korean restaurant, and we're currently in the process of turning it into a bar. John and I have been kicking around the idea of opening a restaurant for years, and about a year ago, he decided he'd had enough of the film and television slog, and he was going to take the plunge.

As our friend Meg says, "This is not a dry run." He'd spent too much time not doing what he wanted to do, and he was ready to throw caution to the wind to chase after the something he really wanted. I'm sure that sounds just plain crazy to a lot of people. But I had this moment where I thought to myself: "This is going to be so nuts. But really, what's the alternative? Are you willing to ask him to keep doing something he hates, because it's familiar? Because it's known? Do you want those words to come out of your mouth? Just do the safe thing?" And I just thought, absolutely not. No, no, no. We've tackled every other challenge together, and our rule of thumb has always been "Don't look back and wonder what would have happened if you did ---." It's just no way to live. I'm not advocating for being irresponsible or stupid. But I am advocating for taking measured, manageable risks in pursuit of job satisfaction; and this felt like one of those moments.

And then, serendipitously, we bumped into an old school friend of John's (Sam, pictured above, unlocking our new restaurant!) who was also working on a similar restaurant idea, and lo! A partnership was formed. Crazy, but true. And now we're knee-deep in this sh!# and there's no going back. We've got the space (on the corner of Graham Avenue and Metropolitan in Williamsburg), we've submitted our plans to the Department of Buildings and applied for a liquor license. We've hired a contractor, hunted down spectacular pendant lights, sconces, a curved antique bar; we bought all of our chairs on the cheap at auction, and scored a pair of stunning art deco brass doors (shown below) which came from one of the first skyscrapers in New York City-- the Telephone Building in Tribeca.

Check out some of my design boards and floor plans, below...

I will try to stay on top of posting our progress here-- I'll show you snippets of the lights, the floor, the bathroom renovation... There's so much to chronicle. So many adventures, so many challenges, and so much of it is going to be done by these three pairs of hands. 

So-- just when you thought this blog might officially be toast-- maybe it's got a second (third? fourth?) wind after all.... 

You just can't quit me.  ; )